Bangers

by Gary Phillips

Author of the critically acclaimed Martha Chainey mystery series, Gary Phillips is a master at capturing the gritty reality of the streets. Bangers takes listeners to the crime infested L.A. neighborhood of Venice Heights, where an elite team of cops struggles to maintain order. They are on the right side of the law, yet these officers will bend or break any rule to bring gangsters down - but too much power leads to corruption and chaos.

Audible Audio

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

GARY PHILLIPS has been a community activist, labor organizer and delivered dog cages. He’s published various novels, comics, short stories and edited several anthologies including South Central Noir and the Anthony award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Violent Spring, first published in 1994 was named in 2020 one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was also a writer/co-producer on FX’s Snowfall (streaming on Hulu), about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central where he grew up. Recent novels include One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem. He lives with his family in the wilds of Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gratuitous violence and sex. I like Phillips’s writing style but this plot felt contrived.

[Darrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a disappointment...Ramparts division dirty cop entanglements in fields romantic and gangsterfied...nicely observed but left me feeling flat

[Moon Song · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an okay read...couldn't really get into it.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of violence and graphic sex - too much for me. I did finish and the story was pretty good. Basically the theme is money, drugs, and power can corrupt anyone.

[Alfred Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its was ok